Best Toys for 8 Year Old Girls Reviewed in 2019

We all know how difficult it is to find the appropriate toy for any age and gender, and when it comes to 8-year-old girls, the situation is no different. Little girls grow up fast, and sometimes it is difficult to keep up. Their taste in toys also changes very quickly, and as a parent, you always want to make the perfect choice when it comes to choosing the right gift for your little princess.

That’s where we come in. We’ve made this list of what we consider the best toys for 8 year old girls on the market, so you can choose safely knowing that these have all been thoroughly tested and reviewed.

Smartlab Toys Girls Only! Secret Message Lab

Sharing secrets must be one of the most enjoyable things for an 8-year-old girl to do. With the Secret Message Lab from Smartlab, she can share some of the most fun gossip and her most treasured secrets with her best friend using invisible ink. She can learn how to make secret messages that can’t be decoded by anyone. This kit has everything a little girl needs to create and read secret messages.

If your girl loves a good mystery, this is the set for her. This toy will allow her to send messages of all kinds, reaffirming her friendships. With the kit, she can learn up to 25 ways to share messages in secret, dealing with a wide range of topics. The set promotes hands-on learning, with basic chemistry examples, such as how invisible ink works, as well as coding basics. There’s also an instruction book dealing with the history of coded messages.

Pros:

Great instruction book

Battery-free

Teaches coding and chemistry

Cons:

May leave a bit of a mess

Klutz Clay Charms

One of the best gifts for an 8-year-old girl is the Klutz Clay Charms Kit. It features various resources and tools that will allow her to make beautiful charm bracelets. It comes with an instructional book, a display stand, and finishing glaze. It includes 9 different colors of molding clay, jump rings, a charm bracelet, charm loops and a clay shaping tool as well.

Your little girl will be the talk of her school with these cool clay charms, and making them will teach her a valuable lesson in patience. Her artistic skill will also be honed while working with this kit, and she can attain some confidence in her creations.

This is a phenomenal way to boost dexterity, imagination, and creativity. It is also going to help your little girl make friends since she can give pretty charms to all of her classmates. Let her imagination run wild!

Nancy B’s science club aims to make science exciting for girls through science kits that include working tools, featuring girly color schemes and designs, along with science activities that appeal to girls. The Science Club Microscope and Activity Journal from Educational Insights lets kids explore the world around them on a larger scale.

This kit includes a microscope with a focusing knob and rubber eyecup, featuring up to 400x magnification, as well as a 26-piece scientific toolset. The 22-page activity journal prompts girls to explore the microscopic world and introduces them to various activities and scientific experiments. The journal includes space for drawing, attaching pictures and answering questions. Three AAA batteries are required but not included.

Your child will love that this kit gives her a functioning microscope of her own, for exploring just like a real scientist. The microscope works well, and the activity journal engages kids in scientific exploration and creative play while introducing scientific concepts in an age-appropriate way.

Pros:

Working 400x magnification microscope

Great design and build quality

Activity journal

Cons:

Batteries not included

L.O.L. Surprise!

The new L.O.L. Confetti Pop dolls from MGA now have 9 surprises each. This series includes more than 30 dolls to collect in new clubs including sleepover, swim, steam, rock and more.

The layers peel back to reveal the surprises: collectible stickers, secret message stickers, a charm baby bottle, an outfit , a pair of shoes, fashionable accessories, a confetti pop surprise, a ring tattoo, and last, but definitely not least, the doll, which has all new mystery water surprises when you feed or bathe it. Your 8 year old can keep track of which dolls she has on the collector’s guide which is also included. The top of the surprise ball doubles as a display stand for the included doll.

If your little girl is a L.O.L. Surprise fan, she is going to love that there are even more surprises to find with this brand new series, from the new dolls to the new surprise layers. This is a great new way for your little girl to make unboxing part of the fun.

Pros:

Great variety

The packaging is also a display stand

Collector’s guide included

Cons:

Your girl will want all of them

Real Cooking Ultimate Baking Starter Set

This isn’t a pretend cooking set, it’s real cooking! Skyrocket Toys Real Cooking line of baking kits is designed to make it easy for aspiring bakers to make delicious treats. Each kit uses real ingredients and real kid-friendly kitchentools.

The Real Cooking Ultimate Baking Starter Set lets kids bake eight ‘Tuxedo’ or black and white cupcakes, and eight ‘Sparkle Surprise’ or sprinkle cupcakes. It comes with two cake mixes, two frosting mixes, and three sprinkle pouches, as well as all the kitchen tools your little girl will need and instructions. You’ll need to provide eggs, milk, butter, vegetable oil, water and vanilla extract.

The tools, unfortunately, none of which are dishwasher-safe, were easy to use. However the measuring spoons look more like measuring cups, and because of this design, it was hard to get a correct measurement.

This is all about making your child feel successful in the kitchen. The look of the finished cupcakes is going to vary depending on her skill level, but hopefully, this kit will encourage and empower her to bake even more cupcakes and other delicious treats.

Pros:

Meant for making real food

Easy to use

Durable and safe

Cons:

Adult supervision required

Not dishwasher safe

National Geographic Mega Crystal Growing Lab

If your kid is a science enthusiast, there’s no skipping this great chemistry lab. With the Mega Crystal Growing Lab, your little girl can learn more about how crystals form, and learn how to grow crystals in 8 different colors. Included in this deluxe kit is a night light display for presenting her best 5 crystals elegantly, as well as 4 silicone growing chambers that make it easy to save and preserve her completed crystals. If you’re looking to inspire a love of science in your child, this STEM kit is the absolute best way to start.

Razor A3 Scooter Clear

This is another fantastic scooter from Razor. They have so many different scooters it’s hard to keep track, but they keep their designs cleverly different, so there’s something for every scooter enthusiast and rider.

This version, in particular, has wide urethane wheels and better bearings, which means great performance with bumpy surfaces. The frame is made from aircraft-grade aluminum and features a classic design. There’s a wheelie bar for those who want to perform tricks, and a rear brake for those who want to make quick stops. Another great thing about this scooter is that it can be folded for easy transport and carrying, while still being very durable and holding up to 134 pounds, which means your child can grow up with it and use it for a long time.

Your little girl can use this simply for moving around, or practice some moves and maybe discover a hidden talent for extreme sports.

Pros:

Four available colors

Wheelie bar and rear brake

Folding mechanism

Cons:

Protective gear sold separately

Alex Toys DIY Wear I Heart Charm Bracelet

This is a hands-on, creative bracelet making kit, which teaches kids how to make their very own beads using air-dry clay. Beads are made in a molding tool and then can be embellished with gems or polka dots using other clay colors. Really, the possibilities are endless. Just note that the clay does dry spongy and not hard like you would expect. Most people find that marbling works best.

The I Heart Charm Bracelets kit comes with five colors of air-dry clay, molding tool, two bracelets, eight charms, glitter glue, ten jump rings, eight beads, 24 eyelets, two pins, 30 stick stones, a dowel, and instructions. This kit allows you to create 24 beads. Make a DIY charm bracelet with your little jewelry maker. Your little girl can make all kinds of bracelets, and have all kinds of fun, with this fantastic kit.

Pros:

Great for fostering creativity

Countless possibilities in terms of how the charms look

Cons:

The clay dries spongy, not hard

Vtech Kidizoom Action Cam

VTech called this an action cam for a reason. The camera comes with everything your little girl needs to take the show on the road. She can attach the camera to a bike, helmet, or skateboard, and even take it in the pool, up to six feet deep with the waterproof case. All of these are easy to use and super stable, although an adult may want to help, making sure everything is attached correctly.

When she’s done shooting, she can download the content into any photo program for editing and sharing. All the functions of the camera are highly intuitive which means your kid will have as much fun exploring and being creative with what she’s shooting, as she will in shooting itself.

Oh, and yes, this is going to stand up to very active play. It has been designed for that with the silicone bumpers, as well as shock and drop resistant engineering.

Pros:

Durable and resistant

Many interesting functions

Waterproof up to 6 feet

Cons:

Only 128mb of onboard storage

American Girl Ultimate Crafting Kit

Your 8-year-old girl will absolutely love this kit, with over 1000 different pieces to use. The set includes various materials for crafting, such as spools, different sized bottles, twines, elastic cords, embroidery floss, iridescent donut beads, mini clothespins, buttons, cube beads, cylinder beads, round beads, jump rings, earring hooks, mini start beads and pearls. A design guide is also included, to help your little girl make her own masterpieces.

If you’re looking for something to encourage your little girl to learn new skills while also having fun at the same time, making jewels and accessories for her dolls with her friends, this is the kit to go with. It allows your child, and her friends, to be imaginative and creative and make stuff that their dolls will love wearing.

The set provides a ton of opportunities for creative play, and will most definitely lead to improvements in her artistic abilities and self-confidence.

Pros:

Fosters artistic expression

Great for social play

Fantastic variety

Cons:

No case for carrying

Needs to be kept away from small children

Hasbro Pie Face Game

This is a game where pie-throwing comedy comes face to face with a fun game of chance. The pack comes with a sponge that’s made to serve as a pie, however, you may find it a lot more enjoyable to break out the shaving cream of whipped cream for some real fun.

To start, simply push down the arm and put whipped cream on it. Just be careful, if you use too much it won’t throw well. Each player spins the spinner to see how many times they have to turn the handle on the side. Then, put your face in the opening and turn. If you’re lucky you’ll get out with a clean face and a point for each turn. If not, your face gets covered in whipped cream, and no points for you.

A random number of turns is set by the mechanism each time, of course, and the suspense is where the fun comes from. This is a game that’s great for the whole family to enjoy and spend some quality time with.

Pros:

Great for the whole family

Safe and durable

Cons:

Whipped cream leaves a bit of a mess

Googly Eyes Game

If you think Pictionary needs an extra level of challenge, this is the game for your family. The object of Googly Eyes is to draw pictures for your team to guess, according to difficulty levels in a specific amount of time, and be the first player to cross the finish line.

The setup is really easy, just change out the lenses in the glasses to match the color of your turn, set the timer for a certain amount of seconds and it pops up when it’s done. So, the trick is that on each turn when you draw you have to wear special glasses that will distort your vision and make it more challenging to draw. The color of the space you land on determines which lens you use. Green for easy, yellow for medium and blue for hard, which each have a different type and level of visual distortion.

Spirograph Shapes

Your little girl can create beautiful, intricate designs with the original Spirograph. You may remember playing with this when you were a kid and being mesmerized by the unlimited possibilities.

This toy was originally developed as a drafting tool by a mechanical engineer, and it combines art and math to create gorgeous designs. This is a creative, fun drawing project for kids and grown-ups alike that encourages hands-on, artful play. The Spirograph Shapes set comes 2 design pads with 24 pages each, three markers, three rings, and 12 Spirograph wheels, including some exclusives in this set, such as the star, heart, and tear-drop. These are all nicely housed in the compact carry case, with a built-in work surface, so your child will never lose the pieces.

This set will do wonders for your little girl’s creative and artistic side but will provide a boost to her mathematical and geometric skills as well.

Pros:

Math and art combined

Comes with everything you need, including the carrying case

Cons:

Slight choking hazard for very small children

Peaceable Kingdom Diary

The lock and key diary from Peaceable Kingdom features 208 lined pages, plus a page where your little girl can write in her name and comes with a set of two keys, so tell your child to make sure to put them in a safe place, away from any sneaky siblings. This hard-covered diary features a cute style made with a unique treatment, which gives it a fun tactile feel and glow-in-the-dark effect.

In general, diaries offer kids a great private way to express their feelings, vent, swoon over a crush, as well as document experiences they can look back on years later. And this diary offers a really high-quality format and place to do just that.

On top of that, writing a diary or journal can do wonders for your child’s writing skills and vocabulary, as well as her ability to process feelings in a healthy and natural way.

Pros:

Great design

Glows in the dark

Two sets of keys included

Cons:

Smaller than you might expect

Claymation Kit

Give aspiring Sofia Coppola’s a start with this cool kit. The kit comes with a special smartphone stand, 4 different backgrounds and assorted props, a movie studio, 1 plain white background, 8 blocks of modeling clay, 2 modeling tools and 18 small googly eyes to create fun characters. A step-by-step animation guidebook is also included, packed with instructions and tips for making great stop-motion movies.

Your kid just needs to download the required app, place her characters and props in front of her phone, and use them to create her own stop-motion movies. Obviously, the movies can be saved to the phone, or a computer and shared with friends and family. She doesn’t need to stop there but can add other toys or objects to her movies.

Getting the app is as easy as it gets, and you’ll find its interface very user-friendly, however, if there are any issues, there are clear and simple instructions in the booklet.

Pros:

Simple and easy to use

Independent Toy Awards Gold medal winner

Cons:

Some users report the clay leaves stains

How to Choose the Best Toy for a Eight Year Old Girl?

The stages of selection

As instruments of learning, toys are invaluable for all children, 8-year-old girls included. Therefore, picking the right one for your little girl may be a daunting task. Unfortunately, the fact that there is a seemingly endless number of toys on the market today doesn’t make your job any easier.

You have to make sure that any toy you pick is valuable to the development of your 8-year-old girl. You also have to be sure that it is safe, and that its design doesn’t interfere with her development in any way.

Once you have that covered, you need to look at the feedback and determine that the toys advertised quality is backed up by real-life customer reviews. You should focus most closely on the parents who seem to be in a similar situation as you, in terms of how their child behaves compared to yours, as well as her stage of development. Lastly, you need to factor in the manufacturer’s reputation.

Things to focus on most closely

Probably the most obvious improvement when it comes to your child’s development at this age is her booming social skills, especially with other girls her age who share similar interests. However, building friendships is not the only thing she’s suddenly very good at – there’s the apparent awareness of her role in all of her relationships and the world at large.

Unfortunately, things are not exactly as they may seem in that regard. Despite her looking like a master of understanding the world, at this point she is still heavily affected by external influences. Therefore, this is an area where you should focus most of your attention, giving her toys and games that help her learn to communicate, as well as understand underlying emotions and hidden agendas more precisely.

Criteria we used

Toys are meant to help guide your child through her development. They are proven to be very helpful in that regard, and should, therefore, be chosen carefully and with much consideration. The toys above have been picked from a wide selection of reviewed products to make this list. Obviously, these toys are guaranteed to be developmentally appropriate as well as age-appropriate, but that’s not where our selection process ends. We are very careful about which manufacturers and sellers we recommend, plus we always make sure the toys we list are completely safe and perform according to certain reasonable expectations.

Feedback and manufacturer reputation

The main things we consider when picking these toys are customer reviews and actual feedback from people who bought the toys previously. Looking at reviews from previous buyers gives us great insight into the performance of a toy in the real world, its build quality and ability to be used as advertised. We also always make sure that the manufacturer has a positive reputation regarding both safety and longevity of the products they make. We consider fun and safety as equally important, and we feel the former should never exist without the latter.

Fun and safety combined

We all know 8-year-old girls enjoy playing, just like kids at any age, so the trick is not to get them to have fun. That’s the easy part. Where we want the toys we select to excel is encouraging girls to develop skills and knowledge which will help them later in their lives. They don’t even necessarily need to know that they are learning, and if the toy is really good, they probably won’t even have time to think about that part of the equation. And that ability to provide a learning experience without the child even knowing is what separates the really good toys from incredible ones.

FAQ

Can toys teach my child to behave?

At first glance, some girls seem meaner than others. At this age, girls begin to understand the emotional impact their words and actions have on others, and sometimes they choose to use that to get what they want. This is what we call emotional aggression. It can be quite common for girls trying to understand their social and relational climate, but it usually subsides once they learn the appropriate patterns of behavior.

Toys can really be helpful here, teaching good social skills by playing games with kids her age. Group projects are also an incredible teacher since they provide an opportunity to learn about responsibility and leadership. The more activities of this kind, the better.

Are video games good for my little girl?

Video games can be a valuable teaching tool and should not be overlooked when considering developmental toys for your kid. Just like with any toy and any game, there are positive and negative sides to video games, and they should always be consumed moderately.

The most glaring negative side of these types of games is the lack of physical activity. Sitting on the couch all day with a controller in her hands isn’t going to do her health any favors.

However, you can’t and shouldn’t try to keep your child away from a computer or gaming console. We live in a world dominated by video games for a reason and allowing her a healthy amount of them is going to ultimately help her develop in a multitude of ways.

Everything will be fine as long as you make sure the games she plays are appropriate for her age and stage of development, and that she has plenty of physical activity during the rest of her day.

Conclusion

Choosing a toy that will help your child develop is very important. This means it can also be very difficult, due to the responsibility that it carries.

A toy that gives your girl the ability to express her creativity, improve her cognitive skills, counterfactual reasoning and problem solving, while at the same time making her use the physical energy in her body, probably doesn’t exist. So try not to stress about it too much, just use this list to find something you think will be beneficial for your child in the long run.

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